 Overview of Edwards AFB, Main Base looking NNE. The two runways are visible in the foreground and Rogers Dry Lake in the background right |
 The Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF) used for electronic signature testing is located in the far SW corner of the base |
 Looking westward across the main ramp, going from west (far end) to east. The distant west end of the parking apron is transient aircraft parking and sheltered parking for the 416th Flight Test Squadron. Just to the right are the 416th FLTS building, Base Operations (odd shaped building) and two hangars that used to be at South Base prior to being moved here around 1951. They are now used by the USAF Test Pilot School and the B-1B. The Test Pilot School is to the right of those two hangars. Further over to the right, the building complex sitting by itself surrounded by desert, is the Joshua Control facility that controls the Edwards air space. Back at the ramp and further east (closer) notice that Hangar 1414 has a tower on the NW corner. It is the parachute rigging facility. Building 1615 (the red roofed structure) next to the large general purpose hangar (1600) is the wash rack. The 418th Flight Test Squadron (tankers and transports) is in Hangar 1623. The control tower is located on the old Muroc town site. |
 Behind the red-roofed wash rack and Hangar 1623 you can see ramp 7 and ramp 8 (North and South) with sun shelters for parked aircraft. The ramps and the associated buildings belong to the F-35 operational test team. During the 1960s, hangar 1810 (between ramp 8 south and north) housed the YF-12A. The east end hangar of building 1820 north or Ramp 8 North was used for the XB-70 Valkyrie (you can see two extra cutouts above the door to accommodate the twin tails. The large round-topped building (Hangar 1830) in the background is the Weight & Balance Facility. |
 Closer view of the main ramp and some of the administrative buildings behind it, looking roughly north. The buildings on the flight line are discussed above. The multistory red-roofed building (#2750, going up from the parked B-1B) is 412th Test Wing headquarters. The building in the left background (#2649) is the Air Force Test Center Headquarters (AFTC HQ), which is the parent unit of Area 51. |
 This is a nice view of what used to be known as "Contractor's Row" because every major aerospace company had a hangar there. Ramps 11 and 12 and Pad 19 on the right and the associated buildings have been identified as belonging to the B-21 Combined Test Force (420th Flight Test Squadron). The buildings have recently been renovated to house the still highly classified B-21 Raider stealth bomber. In the middle foreground, the Pad 15 area was used for X-15/B-52 preflight operations. The nearby complex (buildings 1926, 1928, 1930) was the X-15 static firing test stand. There are two test stands with a blockhouse in between. |
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 Edwards AFB Control Tower |
 Engine test cell similar to the one built at Area 51 a few years ago |